Teetor to Retire to Japan

When most people think of retirement, they think of a white sandy beach and lots of relaxation. Although, sometimes people take more adventurous paths. This is the case for teacher Denise Teetor.

Teetor has been teaching at Hastings Senior High School for 39 years and plans to retire this year. However, she won’t exactly be retiring from teaching for good. She plans to move to Japan and continue teaching.

“I will be teaching English, cooking classes, and craft classes,” Teetor said.

One major difference between her current job and her future plans is that she will now be teaching adults.

“Most of the people I’ll be teaching over there will be adults. That will kinda be a fun change. It’s really hard to get Japanese kids into our classes because their schedules are so full. Sometimes they will come in if they want to learn English though,” Teetor said.

She will be moving in late August, and has made the commitment to stay in Japan for a minimum of two years, but is allowed to stay as long as she would like.

Many students may not know, but this is nothing too new to Teetor. She has been teaching English courses in Japan almost every summer since 1994. Teetor was the volleyball coach for many years and after ending that phase she was looking for something else to keep her busy.

“After I finished coaching volleyball, I just really felt like I needed to do something with my summers. I saw a postcard that said ‘teach English in Japan’ I sent it in and 25 years later, I’m getting ready to head there full time,” Teetor said.

Although Teetor is excited to see what this new chapter holds for her, she knows she will miss her family, friends, coworkers, and students.

“The relationships you make are really incredible and nothing compares to that,” Teetor said.

One thing she values the most was her time spent with the other teachers and staff.

“We have a great staff here. We really do. I’ve been so happy to get to know them, and to share in the journey,” Teetor said.

When asked to share her wisdom with a message for the students and fellow educators she tearfully gave an encouraging and heartfelt sentiment.

“To students, I would say, ‘Don’t waste this time. This should be the best time of your life. But work hard, it will pay off’. For teachers I would just tell them to keep making those relationships with students because that’s really what keeps them going,” Teetor said.

But there are some things she looks forward to leaving behind. Teetor has noticed that in her recent years at HHS the paperwork has increased substantially since she first started.

“There is just so much paperwork. Sometimes there’s so much paperwork that we lose time with our students. And that’s the sad note. I’m sorry to all the teachers that have to continue doing that,” Teetor said.

がうまくいくように祈っていま (I wish you the best of luck)